Lehi Ongley, director of Community Corrections, Jill Fox, director of Alternative Sentencing, and a community‑justice presenter reviewed performance measures for alternatives to traditional incarceration during the Aug. 27 work session.

Ongley said Larimer’s community corrections programs serve higher‑risk clients and reported a successful completion rate of about 68 percent, above the statewide average she cited (about 62 percent). She noted the program’s measured average risk reduction (24 percent) for participants—an indicator tied to increased housing stability, employment and protective factors—and highlighted restitution collected as money returned to the community through participant work and wages.

Fox and community‑justice staff described alternative‑sentencing trends since COVID: program populations fell during the pandemic and are rebuilding; work‑release and midweek models produced higher‑than‑expected completion rates; and the combined recidivism rate reported was about 14 percent (defined as arrest within one year of program release). Fox said the county’s alternative‑sentencing per‑day cost is about $146.69 and that community corrections programs reported a per‑day cost cited elsewhere as $142.50.

Pretrial services staff said the office supervised roughly 445,000 days under supervision in the most recent reporting year (a post‑COVID reduction from a 2020 spike) and estimated total jail/prison bed‑days diverted of about 634,000 across the community justice system. Pretrial supervision cost was described as about $6.50 per day, contrasted with much higher daily jail costs.

Commissioners and presenters discussed the public‑safety and fiscal benefits of supervision and community programs: community programs keep people connected to work and family, allow restitution collection, and reduce traditional incarceration costs. Commissioners asked for continued monitoring of completion and recidivism rates as populations rebuild toward pre‑COVID levels.

Presenters also noted that some numbers presented in the meeting appeared inconsistent across slides and speakers (for example, a $242 vs. $286 vs. $242 per‑day jail figure appeared in different parts of the discussion); presenters said they would reconcile figures in follow‑up materials.